Friday, October 10, 2014

McCune Davis urges Phoenix City Council to allow Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force access to $350,000

McCune Davis urges Phoenix City Council to
allow Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force access to $350,000

STATE
CAPITOL, PHOENIX –The
Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has not been able to use
the $350,000 the Legislature set aside for the program earlier this year.
Today, Rep. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Phoenix (District 30), sent letters urging
the Phoenix mayor and City Council to do whatever is necessary to get the
funding to the task force.

The
Department of Child Safety received the money but it does not oversee the task
force. The Phoenix Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit
operates the program.

“There
have been significant delays in getting this money to the task force, because
it was unclear whether it would require an intergovernmental agreement or a
grant to allow the money to pass from the Department of Child Safety to the
Phoenix Police Department,” McCune Davis said. “Regardless of the funding
mechanism, the Phoenix City Council will need to act immediately to approve the
spending. This is an urgent matter because the task force fights cybercrimes
statewide, and the new funding will increase the resources available to protect
children against sexual exploitation through the Internet, and can be used for
equipment, training and staff costs.”

The Internet
Crimes Against Children Task Force is a national network of more than 60
coordinated task forces representing over 3,000 federal, state, and local law
enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. It helps state and local law
enforcement develop effective responses to cyber enticement and child pornography.
Since 1998, task forces throughout the country have reviewed more than 330,000
allegations of child sexual victimization resulting in more than 30,000
arrests. For more information on the task forces, go to http://www.ojjdp.gov/programs/progsummary.asp?pi=3.